


Accepting His Help

by Bluecow13



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps - Freeform, Bullying, Canon Era, Canon Non-Binary Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eren Loves Levi, Established Relationship, Fat Shaming, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Levi Loves Eren, M/M, canonverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 14:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluecow13/pseuds/Bluecow13
Summary: Eren is bullied about his size by Jean and Connie and Levi needs to reassure his angel that he loves him, regardless of what people try to say.





	Accepting His Help

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago and just found this in my documents. I edited it and am posting it now because why not. I hope you enjoy it!

"Hey Yeager! Looking a little big, huh?"

Eren turn to look at Jean who was standing in the mess hall doorway. 

The room was empty excluding them as an earlier argument had resulted in them needing to finish mucking out the stables to the Corporal’s detail-oriented standards before they could even think about eating. By the time they had finished, breakfast and lunch had long been over, but Hanji took pity on them and let them go eat before rejoin everyone for 3DMG practice. Bless their soul.

It was clear Jean was just angry from earlier still and was trying to bait him, but Eren could feel the familiar pit of anger start to simmer deep in his stomach.

"Oh, shove it up your ass, Horseface, I'm not in the mood. We both smell like shit and I am sore as hell. I don't need any more shit, literally and figuratively." Eren snapped as he turned back around and dunked his bread in the commissary soup. Usually he would be more up to fight but today was just taking too long to be over. 

Eren had just felt a bit off since the spoon incident about a week ago and the Special Operations Squad’s still somewhat wary faces hadn't helped ease the nerves. 

"I'm just trying to help, Yeager. Keep eating like that and Corporal Levi will have to roll you into battle against the titans," Jean taunted again, leaning against the doorway. "Just look at you. What, does the Corporal feed you when he isn't bored enough to fuck you?"

Eren's spoon dropped, making a little splash of soup fall onto the old wooden table. Usually, Eren would stop to mop it up, taking care not to make a mess during meal time so his already small amount of time with Levi wasn't even shorter, but he was standing up and marching over to Jean, ready to defend his relationship.

"What did you just say, you bastard?" Eren spat at Jean who stood about a foot away with a smirk on his face. Say something else and you won't be smirking for very long Eren thought ready to fight the older boy to defend Levi.

"Please! Don't try to tell me he doesn't steal food for you when you're angry at him as an apology. He gives you the pastries and shit he allowed each month as a highly ranked officer. Your thighs and stomach have gotten fat as hell since the two of you started dating!" Jean antagonized, crossing his arms in a pathetic attempt to try and make himself more imposing to his enraged comrade.

Before Eren could unleash a stream of insults at Jean, some of which he learned from listening to Levi early in the morning before he had his tea, someone clearing their throat interrupted the angry brunet.

"C-Connie, how long have you been there?" Eren questioned, his anger disappearing quickly in favor of worry that he was going to get in trouble again today and would have to clean the entire second floor alone or something else ridiculous.

"The whole time, Corporal Levi sent me to find where you two were. Dude, didn't you know you were getting bigger? I mean, you ‘outgrew’ a couple of your shirts and pants last week and had to buy a size up. Everyone knows about it, it's not like it's subtle." Connie said with a light-hearted laugh. 

Jean laughed too like they had been telling him to get ‘it’ with Levil or something else trivial.

Eren felt his face flush in shame and lowered his head to try and hide it. It's not like it's subtle. His hands balled in the bottom of his new shirt and he was suddenly a lot more aware of Jean and Connie's eyes on him. He let out a small unconvincing laugh to try to play off their comments as a joke and hunched his shoulders.

Connie's hand clapped his back,"Well, I have delivered my message. The Corporal was wondering where you two were so you should hurry to the forest before he really gets angry." He chuckled like nothing happened. Jean thanked him and they left together abandoning Eren in the empty mess hall, new found doubts about his body and what his friends thought of him floating through his mind.

___________________

Levi sighed. 

The entire day had been shitty from beginning to end. Well, not the whole day. He had woken up in a pretty good mood, Eren curled up into his side with his left arm under the brat's head and his right wrapped around Eren's waist. 

But the problems had not waited long to appear after they left their safe bed in favor of doing their jobs.  
Eren had started a fight with Jean this morning after the boy made him spill his cereal on the way to Levi's table.

Levi didn't want to make his doe-eyed angel clean the horse stalls, but he couldn't avoid punishing his brat without others getting angry over favoritism and that was the chore that needed to happen the most urgently. Then after a few hours with no sign of them, he had to send Connie to go get them because they were probably stalling to avoid doing their practice drills. Or fighting again.

Levi loved Eren with every inch of his being, but that just accentuated how much he hated having to punish his boyfriend for stupid shit like his uncontrolled temper. 

After watching the new recruits smash themselves into trees repeatedly like they hadn't been through basic training, Connie and Jean finally reappeared and started practicing the new maneuver they had been working on for about a week now with still little success besides Mikasa’s excellent form. 

Levi kept glancing at the compound like staring at it would explain where his darling was. 

Before he could even ask the asshole who had been paired with Eren, who had just slammed in a tree with such a force Levi started to question how they even graduated, Erwin requested his help with some work he had.

Levi knew what that meant. Erwin knew he was about to lose his shit so he excused him to the blonde's office to do paperwork. Great. Just what Levi wanted to end his day with. Menial paperwork.

Levi managed to push Eren out of his mind, convincing himself that Hanji must have grabbed him for some sort of experiment into his Titan abilities.

At dinner, Levi didn’t see Eren or Hanji so he decided to finish his food and check his room. If Eren wasn't there, Levi would pay Hanji a visit and remind they that Eren needed breaks too. After the day he had, Levi just wanted to see Eren and fall into bed with the boy wrapped up in his arms.

Opening the door to their room revealed an empty bed and a slit of light from the bathroom. Good, at least Eren was back and they could finally spend some time together today. Levi moved to the bed and tugged off his boots before starting on his straps.

It was usually exhausting for Eren to deal with all of Hanji’s theories and ideas which, stupid precious idiot that he is, he didn’t like to turn down in the hopes that they could lead to some sort of breakthrough.

It comforted Levi to a degree for Eren to relax in the bath a moment before he came out, just for the boy to unwind from the day he must have had with the maniac.

Having finished with removing his straps and boots and changing into his nightclothes with just consisted of a pair of grey sweatpants, Levi glanced over at the bathroom door in concern. Even when relaxing, Eren made more noise than this with constant obnoxious sighs and readjusting his position constantly. Perhaps Eren just forgot to turn off the light this morning and he’s still with Hanji?

Moving over to the bathroom and opening the door, Levi was shocked by what he saw inside. Eren was sitting in the tub, scrubbing away at his skin with their loofah. Tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he torn away as his already very red and delicate skin. His stomach and thighs were the worst, some scratches deep enough bleed into the bath water, tinting it pink. 

Levi froze for a second taking in the horrible sight before he quickly ran over to Eren, grabbing a towel on the way. Kneeling next to the tub, Levi reached in and gently held Eren’s hands still, not allowing him to tear at his skin any more than he had.

Eren’s red eyes met Levi’s, drowning the man in the sadness within. 

Levi cooed to Eren trying anything to relax the upset boy. Bringing up his hand, Levi ran his fingers through Eren’s damp hair. Feeling Eren calm slightly, Levi dropped a hand into the semi-bloody water and grasped under Eren’s knees while the other wrapped around his shoulders.

Levi lifted Eren out of the water and into his lap, soaking his clothes without a second thought. Levi held Eren against his chest, damp hair and face nestled in his neck. Grabbing the towel he had brought over in his haste, Levi was relieved when he recognized it. It was an extra fluffy and absorbent toilet Levi had bought for Eren as part of their aftercare routine. This was definitely the kind of soft comforting warmth Eren needed right now on his abused limbs.

Levi wrapped it around his angel’s body quickly before carrying the boy into their bedroom. Levi gently laid Eren into their freshly-washed bedding and used the towel to gently wipe down Eren’s body. 

Since he was pulled out of the tub, Eren’s eyes had become unfocused and he was limp in Levi’s grasp. Levi bit his lip, mimicking his injured boyfriend’s nervous habit, as he gave Eren’s face a soft stroke.

“Eren...sweetheart...talk to me. What’s wrong? What happened?”

Eren blinked a few times, tears building up in his eyes again when he recognized Levi kneeling by his side.

Eren opened his mouth a few times trying to say something to his boyfriend. “L-Levi, I...hold m-me…”

Crawling up onto the bed, Levi gently pulled his towel-wrapped lover into his lap, leaning against the bed frame.

“I’ll protect you. Just relax, sweetheart.”

Levi held Eren, trying to calm himself enough to help Eren.

Eren took a few stuttering breathes, his boyfriend’s heartbeat pounding in his ears giving him something to focus on.

Levi’s hand came up to stroke Eren’s drying hair, humming to the boy.

Waiting until Eren’s breath was steady, Levi tried to coax what happened out of the quiet boy nestled in his arms.

“Eren, what happened? I need to know so I can help you.” Levi murmured, his voice barely louder than a whisper in Eren’s ear.

Eren opened his mouth, trying to explain his fears. Instead of explaining himself, Eren asked Levi a question. “Do you love me?”

Levi frowned. He made sure to tell Eren how much he means to him every single morning, never wanting the boy to doubt his feelings for him. Tilting Eren’s chin up to look at Levi’s unusually soft eyes, Levi tried to pour all of his emotion into his words. 

“I love you more than life itself. I love you more than tea and cleaning and even my horse.” Levi joked, trying to make Eren smile. The boy let out a little huff of laughter when Levi mentioned his horse, realizing his dry attempt at humor.

“I love you so fucking much Eren. You mean everything to me and I’d do anything for you. God, I don’t even think I can put in words how much you mean to me from your little smiles in the morning to how you tease me while we clean to even your shitty jokes about our friends.”

Eren’s watery smile grew wider at Levi words and a few more tears slipped out from his eyes. “W-Who would've k-known Humanity’s S-Strongest is such a sap…”

“Only for you, angel.”

Eren paused at the nickname.

“Levi…”

“Eren, please. What happened today?”

Eren took a deep breath and pressed his face into Levi’s chest. He didn’t want Levi to laugh at him for being sensitive to Jean’s earlier comments. He knew he had to trust Levi if he wanted to fix this situation, but it was still hard to force himself to say what happened.

“Today after I-I cleaned the stalls with Jean, Hanji allowed us to go grab some lunch before rejoining y-you for 3DMG training. I was eating when he walked in and he started saying that you just kept me around as a fuckbuddy, giving me food to shut up and look pretty.”

When Eren mentioned Jean’s comment about their relationship, he couldn’t help, but hold onto Levi’s neck, wanting to ensure that Levi wasn’t going to disappear on him for voicing his insecurities. 

“I started to get angry, but Connie arrived and interrupted us saying that Jean w-wasn’t lying. He said it’s obvious to everyone that I’m getting fat from the food you feed me. I-I...they didn’t even care that they said that stuff...they just left…I don’t want to be a drain on the Survey Corps, I want to help! I thought if I could...scrub off that extra weight...I could fix this...stop wasting resources for everyone els-”

Levi couldn’t listen to the suddenly self-deprecating speech any more, grabbing Eren’s face in between his hands to make the boy look at him. Levi bent down to press their foreheads together, both knowing that was only done for comfort and as a show of love.

“If...If hear any more of that shit come out of your mouth, I’m gonna fucking lose it. You are not fat. You had to get new shirt and pant sizes because my workouts are finally rubbing off on you and you’re gaining more defined muscle. Mikasa wears larger sizes than Sasha or Petra because she is fucking made of pure muscle, not fat.”

Levi opened his eyes that he hadn't realized he had closed and met Eren’s attentive gaze. Levi tried to make Eren understand how he felt with his last few words.

“You are the love of my life and you are absolutely perfect with or without your new muscles. Which do exist by the way. I’m positive Connie and Jean are just jealous because you can take them in hand to hand and you’re strong enough to fuck them up extra on top of that.”

Eren let out a dry laugh at Levi’s words. He leaned up to kiss his lover, tears of joy spilling out of the corners of his eyes at his boyfriend’s lovingly strict words to stop putting himself down.

“...Thank you, Levi. Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Always.”

Levi readjusted Eren in his arms to carry him back to the bathroom to the boy’s confusion.

“Wait, why are we going back in there?”

“I love you, but that doesn’t bandage your scraps on its own so we are going to the bathroom where I can actually take care of your injuries...and plan how to beat the shit out of Connie and Jean.”

Eren laughed in Levi’s arms, enjoying the attention in the wake of his shitty day. “Won’t you get in trouble with Erwin?”

Levi snorted and kissed Eren’s head, happy the boy was cheering up more now that Levi had explained away his doubts about his perfect body. “Fuck Erwin. Nobody messes with you and gets away with it when I’m around.”


End file.
